


Thalassophobia

by Lululablette



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Drowning, Other, Royalty AU, Sibling Rivalry, attempt at drowning, have i spoiled the whole fic yet-, like its not fun for zim, toxic siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:26:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27724798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lululablette/pseuds/Lululablette
Summary: If you're here, you probably know what's coming, and/or you read Melody's fic.It can get pretty graphic, in my opinion, so feel free to bail out at any moment.If you're here for wholesome stuff, you're in the wrong bar, we only serve angst here sir.
Relationships: Almighty Tallest Purple/Almighty Tallest Red, The Almighty Tallest & Zim
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Thalassophobia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MelodyoftheVoid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodyoftheVoid/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Every Day Another Loss](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25312162) by [MelodyoftheVoid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodyoftheVoid/pseuds/MelodyoftheVoid). 



Red threw a rock on the surface of the water, giving it a slight angle to make it skip a few times. Grabbing another one from his left hand, he threw a second one, with more force this time. The pebble didn’t even bounce once, hitting the water with a sad ‘plop’, and disappearing in the dark pit.

He let out a heavy breath and sat down on the shore, squinting to protect his eyes from the sunset reflecting on water. Sitting a few feet away from the shore, he relaxed a bit, allowing himself to think, away from the busy castle and endless duties and acts of presence he had to take care of. Perhaps it would be easier if Mother would just listen to him sometimes. But instead she was too busy looking upon his younger sibling.

He closed his eyes for a moment, appreciating the warm sun rays hitting his dark hair. The temperature difference between the cold pebbles under him and the warm air made him shiver a bit. Best to start walking back now before it gets too dark.

This moment of peace however, was short lived. As Red stood up, he heard a familiar voice calling out for him. A loud and piercing one. Red couldn’t help but grunt in annoyance at the sight of his younger brother running toward him. His cheeks were dark pink, and he was out of breath. Zim stopped next to him, catching his breath. Red waited.

“I looked for you all around the castle grounds! I knew I would find you here!” The excitation in his voice was palpable. It didn’t seem to bother the eight year old to run around looking for his brother, as if it was a game. A game of which Red didn’t want to participate in.

“I’m busy Zim, what do you want.” He crossed his arms.

“You’re always busy! We never play together anymore…”

“I’m too old to play, Zim.” He said, as he picked up other rocks to throw.

Zim whined and stomped his foot down, but didn't protest any further. Instead he bent down too, mimicking his brother.

“It’s going to be diner time soon, let’s go.” Zim said after a few throws, grabbing at Red’s sleeve. Red quickly whipped his arm away, frowning.

“Do not grab my shirt like this. Your hands are dirty.” He pushed past Zim.

The younger had had enough, he ran up to him and blocked him in his walk, standing right in front of him. His cheeks were puffy now. 

“Why are you so mean to me?”

“You’re an annoyance.”

“You’re just jealous because I’m better!”

Zim was just tantrums after tantrums after all. As a young toddler he would just do anything he pleased without having to face the consequences, Queen Miyuki shielding him carefully. Red grew sour in this relationship. As he once was the only one in Miyuki’s eyes, he was now being replaced. At six years old Red wasn’t in Miyuki’s arms anymore, already following the hard path to be the future ruler of Irk. Meanwhile Zim was still being pampered and cared for, despite being older now. Still the favorite, still the most fragile of the two.

“You’re not as good as you think you are, Zim. You can’t use magic yet, you can’t fence, you can’t ride a horse without causing a mess, you can’t take care of your own dog!”

Zim recoiled under the attack, playing with his finger as a nervous tic.

“But Mother still loves me more.”

Red almost didn’t catch the mutter, but the area was calm enough for him to hear the end of the sentence. His face shifted into an ugly frown and Zim raised his arms in defence. The taller of the two grabbed the other by the arm, twisting and pulling him back toward the shore. 

“Another thing you’re not good at is keeping your mouth shut, apparently.” He launched Zim down toward the lake a few feet below them.

With a yelp Zim fell from the shore, rolling down the dirt and stopping his course in the water. He emerged from the water with a gasp, panic in eyes.

“Let’s see if Mother still “loves you more” looking like this.”

Zim grasped at the dirt and plants growing on the side of the shore.

“You know I can’t swim!” Zim cried. He was sitting in the water, the liquid just reaching his waist.

“Huh, another thing you’re not good at.” Red dusted his hands, a satisfied look on his face. He made a movement with his head, silently ordering Zim to hurry back up there.

Zim threw his fist in the water, tears welling up in his eyes. He spotted a rock bigger than his hand near him and grabbed it, throwing it and hitting Red’s knee.

“I hate you! I’m trying to spend time with you but you’re just mean! All because Mother spends more time with me! You’re the worst brother ever!”

Still gripping his knee,Red turned back toward Zim. He looked furious but Zim was already too deep in his anger to care. He kept crying and throwing insults at his brother.

“Mean? You want to see how mean I can get, Zim?” Red slid down the slope, half jumping half running. When he got to Zim's level he grabbed once again his arm, harder this time. Zim tried to pull back, using his free hand to try to pry open the death grip.

“Let me go!”

Red dragged him toward the center of the lake. Zim used his feet to pull against it, but the ground covered in small rocks only rolled under him, causing him to lose his balance, falling into the water again.

“You’re hurting me! I’m going to tell-”

Zim felt a hand locking around the back of his head, nails digging deep in the skin. When he tried to protest again, his head was already under water. He gasped in terror, filling his mouth with water. He tried to hit Red, kicking him, punching him, shaking his body as hard as he could in the heavy body of water, which only resulted in Red forcing his head deeper.

Who knew an eight year old would be so hard to drown. The waves caused by Zim made it hard for Red to keep a good grip on him, water splashing against his face. At some point the silky red bow tying his hair in a neat braid came undone, sticking strands of hair against his cheeks. He growled as Zim thrashed under him, a punch escaping and hitting him in the face. He managed to twist around. 

Now Red stared right into Zim’s half closed eyes, his hands covering the rest of his face, and he felt his entire body tense up and shake. Big bubbles of air escaped from Zim’s nose and mouth, his eyes closing shut. He let out a shaky breath, akin to a laugh, feeling Zim’s hands lose their grip around his wrists.

Then Zim’s entire body went limp,sinking every so slightly to the bottom of the lake. Red felt his body shake harder, spasm of panic ordering his movements. He hurriedly grabbed his heavy brother and pulled him out of the waters, hooking his arms around his waist, Zim’s head resting on his shoulder. Sill walking, as fast as he could with his ankles twisting more than once in the hurry, he pressed his arms harder around the chest. He felt a trickle of warm water on his shoulder and back, and continued.

On the shore he dropped the body on the ground, raising a hand, letting it collide hard against Zim’s face. Once, twice… Before he had the sick pleasure to hit him a third time, Zim came back, gasping and coughing, throwing up more water. He watched as Zim sat up, rolling on the side to keep going. Red’s vision blurred and his ears started ringing, he could only hear and feel his rapid beating heart. He wiped his eyes, forcing his face to look neutral.

The only thing Zim remembers from before waking up on the shore was the vision of his brother’s face shifting between a sick smile and this awful strained grimace that he only had shown toward careless servants, and Purple, a few times after certain particularly violent arguments. While Red might have treated Zim poorly before, he never showed actual hatred toward him, only disdain, contempt and very much visible eyerolls. Zim tried to blink the mental image away.

“Don’t…” Red began after Zim managed to breathe somewhat normally again “Do not ever provoke me again like that Zim.” He sounded so shaky, voice wavering between anger and panic. Zim only heard the anger though.

Zim opened his mouth to respond, or apologize, who knows, but it only made him cough more. Red stood up, his legs almost giving up on him, if it weren’t for his years of fake it till you make it. He looked impassible.

“And don’t you dare even talk about any of this. Because I will make sure no one finds your body at the bottom of that god forsaken lake.” He balled his hands into fists, his voice raising a few decibels near the end. Zim nodded slightly, unsure if he was even allowed to move, but not daring to remain still in a way that might anger him more.

Red grabbed the front of his shirt, twisting it to release as much water as he could. He did the same for his hair, finally noticing his untied hair, and found the ribbon still knotted around a strand of hair. While Red was busy making himself look decent, Zim stood up. He fell backward on his butt.

“I-I can’t… Stand up…” He stuttered with a hoarse voice, looking back up toward Red.

“And?” Red shook his hands a few times toward the ground, droplets of water hitting Zim in the face. “You don’t expect me to carry you like a toddler now, do you?” Red turned away toward the path leading back to the gardens of the castle. 

Still too afraid to respond back, Zim stood up, slower. He truly felt like a toddler though now, with those useless jelly legs. He followed Red as quickly as he could, keeping a safe distance away from him. His clothes felt heavy, still dripping a lot of water, a squelchy sound coming from each step.

The stares of the guards and servants were hard to handle, so he kept his gaze toward the ground as soon as they passed the entrance of the gardens. They both came to halt, Zim bumping into Red’s behind, granting him a cold stare. Zim looked up to apologize, but Red didn’t stare long, his head turning toward something else in front of them.

“Could you two explain why you are arriving so late?” Queen Miyuki’s voice echoes in the hall. “ It is almost time to eat, and you are nowhere to be seen, the entire castle is worried sick, and you dare arrive looking like this?”

Zim wants to reach out to Red’s hand, like he did a few times before when they got into minor troubles.

“I was simply taking a late afternoon walk near the lake, Mother. Zim came to find me to tell me it was almost dinner time. On the way back he lost his balance and we both fell into the lake.” Red lied calmly. Clearly he had set up this story on the way back, making sure to think it through to have it make sense. It worked. Miyuki’s cold stare shifted toward Zim, her harsh features softening a bit.

“Is that so?”

“Yes.” Less itchy, but he still coughed “Sorry, I think I swallowed some water.”

Miyuki walked toward him, gently cupping his face and inspecting him up close. He avoided her gaze and tried to escape his mother’s inspection. He crossed Red’s vicious stare and slipped away from the grasp.

“I’m fine, I promise.”

“Red, you know how fragile he is. You should have been more careful near the shore like so. Zim could’ve easily drowned.”

“I know.” The words echo in the silent room, and Zim understands that they are more directed toward him. He knows how easy it was for him to hold Zim under water. He knows how Zim is unable to fight back properly. He knows that Zim won’t ever fight back anymore. And Zim knows that getting more of Miyuki’s affection will only bring him closer to being at the bottom of the lake forever. “I’m sorry.” Red adds after a pause.

A cough breaks the tension. Everyone turns toward Purple who had been standing silently the whole time, not far behind Miyuki.

“Your Majesty if we could please hurry up… Dinner’s already served and it is only getting colder by the minute.” He says with a shrug, a slight hint of boredom in his voice.

Miyuki frowns at him but he doesn’t bat an eye. She grabs Zim’s hand and drags him on the tiled floor. “Let’s get you changed first.” The two walk past him,walking up the stairs and disappearing in one of the upper corridors.

Finally alone, Purple’s attitude shifts completely. Putting his hands on his hips, he nods a quizzical frown at Red.

“Did it feel good?”

“What do you mean?”

“When he stopped moving.”

Red’s eyes widened. He knew, but how-

“Come on, you look surprised, as if it was hard to guess. Her Highness Queen Miyuki may be blind as a bat, but I know you better than she does by now.” A satisfied smile pinched his feature, eyes gleaming with malice.

“Are you going to tell her?” Red’s voice is monotone and hushered.

Purple shifted his balance to his other leg, looking Red up and down.

“No. I won’t. There’s no point in me doing so.” Purple only started to appreciate Red recently, and it seemed to work the other way around too. Revealing the truth will probably end in Red being cast away as a punishment for trying to kill his brother, leaving Zim to take over eventually, and Purple being sent back to his family. No way he’d ruin this comfort.

He walked up to Red, flicking his finger on his cheek bone, making him wince in pain.

“Be careful, that’s a nasty bruise you got there.” Seeing as Red remained silent he kept his monologue going, as he often did. “ You might want to cover it up before people link it to the bruises on Zim’s knuckles…”

“I need to change.” Red said in an attempt to change the topic

“Hmm, yes you do. Let’s get you into something more decent, and then we will have a nice lovely dinner with the rest of the family...” Purple walked up the stairs, not waiting for the hollow minded prince to follow him.

**Author's Note:**

> As Mel wonderfully put it "Red is... fucked up" yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, everyone is i believe. Thank you for everyone who read this, on the MP10 server.
> 
> and thank you, kind stranger, for reading this till the end :D


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